1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The field of the invention is devices adapted to protect a bicycle front fork from damage when the front fork engages the ground while parked where the front wheel has been removed to secure it with the back wheel and bicycle frame.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
In an effort to stem bicycle thefts, bicycle manufacturers have for some time made it possible to readily remove the front wheel of the bicycle by means of quick-release nuts on either side of the front wheel axle. Utilizing the quick-release nuts, the bicycle front wheel may be removed from the front fork by loosening the quick-release nuts that secure the front wheel axle in the drop out slots formed in the extended tip of each blade of the front fork. The front wheel is then removed to the vicinity of the bicycle rear wheel where the bicycle rear wheel, front wheel, and frame are secured to a upright standard, post, or other secure monument by means of an elongated chain and lock. In the past, because of the distance between the front wheel and the back wheel, the chain required to loop the frame, front wheel, and the back wheel around a post or other secure standard would be excessively long and heavy. By the present means of placing both wheels close together, a chain of substantially shorter length may be utilized.
If the shortened length of chain and lock are utilized to secure a bicycle back wheel and frame, but the front wheel is not removed and placed with the back, then thieves may steal the front wheel, leaving the remainder of the bicycle. If the bicycle front wheel and frame are locked to a standard, the thieves then remove the back wheel, leaving only the front wheel and frame secured. Thus it is apparent why bicycle manufacturers began to adopt the quick-release front wheel.
As is the situation when many new inventions come on the market solving the major problem, such as theft, additional minor problems are then created. The minor problem created by the quick-release front wheel is that when the front wheel is removed from the bicycle, the ends or tips of the bicycle front fork blades then rests upon the ground or concrete or where ever the bicycle is parked. If, in the process of removing the front wheel the bicycle is dropped after the wheel is removed, opportunities are presented for damaging the tips of the front fork blades by bending or breaking the metal of the front fork on either side of the drop out slots at the tips of the blades. In addition, if somebody stands or sits on the bicycle frame while the front fork tips engage the ground, there is still even more opportunity to damage the tips and the drop out slots. This is especially so since the normal position of the parked bicycle is vertically up where the blade tips engage the ground at a perpendicular angle.
It is apparent that it would be useful to provide a mechanism which is secured to the bicycle front fork and interposed the tips and the ground in order that damage to the tips and to the drop out slots may be avoided.
Accordingly, there is an advantage of providing a mechanism which is secured by the bicycle front fork drop out slots and which serves to hold the frame tips in a fixed spaced position to prevent the frame tips from engaging the ground, and, additionally, to help place the frame tips from being bent closer to each other, or further apart, and prevent side to side skew distortion.